Northeast Ohio-Carboniferous 7/6 not sure of ID

[saysac]

Found this one today and not sure what it is?

[Fossildude19]

Don't know what it is, but it is gorgeous!

Maybe some species of Sphenopteris?

Lovely!

Regards,

[abyssunder]

I agree, looks close to Sphenopteris sp. http://www.lneg.pt/download/9579/81_2909_ART_CG14_ESPECIAL_I.pdf

[CraigHyatt]

Interesting to me that must of the photos I saw of Sphenopteris, as well as this specimen, have the same fractal leaf design. There's a leaf shape subdivided into smaller self-similar shapes. Perhaps an experiment in getting more light through to lower leaves.

[tmaier]

Most ferns have a repeating self similarity, a fractal type of development. A guy named Barnsley formed some equations that create realistic looking ferns when they are reiterated. Tweaking the equation parameters causes the fern to mutate. Tweak too much and it explodes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnsley_fern A lot of things that looks complex are actually just the reiteration of simple rule sets and stepping of the parameters.

[CraigHyatt]

Most ferns have a repeating self similarity, a fractal type of development. A guy named Barnsley formed some equations that create realistic looking ferns when they are reiterated. Tweaking the equation parameters causes the fern to mutate. Tweak too much and it explodes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnsley_fern A lot of things that looks complex are actually just the reiteration of simple rule sets and stepping of the parameters.

Yes. One of my favorite books is Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean Carrol. Covers this topic and many more. I highly recommend it to anyone. Especially fossil lovers. :-)